The idea of Peppers playing for the Panthers, a team he no longer wants to be part of, is scarier. Anybody who has aimed binoculars at Julius for consecutive series knows he takes plays off. If he's a Panther only because he has to be, what's he going to take off next – halves?

Carolina doesn't have many options on this one. The Panthers should apply the franchise tag to Peppers and then trade him. The Kansas City Chiefs collected three draft picks last April for their great pass rusher, Jared Allen. Minnesota gave up a first-rounder (17 {+t}{+h} overall) and two third-rounders (73 and 82).

And Allen was tainted. He was charged three times with driving under the influence, the last of which cost him a two-game suspension. Plus, he wore a mullet.

I wrote four months ago that the Panthers had offered Peppers an enormous contract before the season.

Peppers never acknowledged it.

We learned why late Friday when his agent, Carl Carey, sent a statement to ESPN. In it, Peppers said he “wants to explore opportunities with other NFL teams.”

Breaking the news on ESPN tells you everything you need to know. As rare as Peppers is on the field, occasionally making plays nobody else can, he tries to be one of the many away from it.

I ran into him at a Charlotte steak restaurant one night eating dinner at the bar. He rarely looked up and his cap was pulled low on his head. So successful was his quest for anonymity that if he weren't 6-foot-7 and 283 pounds and didn't have one of North Carolina's most famous faces attached to the front of his head, I might not have recognized him.

Releasing the story to a national news outlet was like yanking off the cap, jumping on the bar and shouting, “I don't want to be a Panther, anymore!”

For the Panthers, the off season takes a new shape. Offensive tackle Jordan Gross is as good at his job as Peppers is at his, and since the Panthers can't apply the franchise tag to two players, they must sign him. The draft picks Peppers would fetch, meanwhile, could be devoted to a defense that went bad long before Jake Delhomme did.

The breakup won't be easy because we will never see a player such as Peppers come our way again. The only people with his size and athleticism work in the NBA. If you identified the 25 most impressive defensive plays in Panthers history, I bet Peppers made 15 of them.

But he is a better athlete than he is a player. As big as he is, he sometimes disappears, as the Arizona Cardinals will attest. With him, you don't get an every-down player. You get a player who, every other down or every other quarter or every other game, is spectacularly disruptive.

Peppers implies he never reached his potential during his seven seasons here. I disagree. We've seen everything he can do.

Someones bitter. Spoiled? Hardly. What didn't show up was a tough defensive scheme, no help along the Dline to help him...CONSISTENTLY, don't give a damn about the "well Johnson and Tyler were solid," not to mention outside of last season he's been one of the more consistent defenders on the Panthers. I swear some peppers' pundits are eating sour grapes. This reminds me of when T.O left philly. He's venerated when he's there, but as soon as he leaves "f**k em" lol

Unfortunately Peppers will probably be utilized somewhere else. If he has anything of a competent DC who knows what a real defensive scheme is best believe he's going to be even more of a beast. God forbid the team he goes to actually has someone other than him who can apply pressure and help him out:eek6:

Someones bitter. Spoiled? Hardly. What didn't show up was a tough defensive scheme, no help along the Dline to help him...CONSISTENTLY, don't give a damn about the "well Johnson and Tyler were solid," not to mention outside of last season he's been one of the more consistent defenders on the Panthers. I swear some peppers' pundits are eating sour grapes. This reminds me of when T.O left philly. He's venerated when he's there, but as soon as he leaves "f**k em" lol

Unfortunately Peppers will probably be utilized somewhere else. If he has anything of a competent DC who knows what a real defensive scheme is best believe he's going to be even more of a beast. God forbid the team he goes to actually has someone other than him who can apply pressure and help him out:eek6:

Some people, lol.....kids.

It's 100% accurate to say that Peppers took a lot of plays off. To me he seemed to play just enough to get paid. He does remind me of those rare brilliant kids in school who'd sleep through class and never turn in homework, but then ace the final exam so they could graduate. Their genius was so special that they wanted to expose it for others to see only when necessary.

Either you're part of the Panthers or you're not. Peppers did the worst thing he could do to the Panthers by announcing he won't return. Puts the Panthers in a very tough position with Gross not being signed either.
Show some class, do it behind the scenes and the Panthers will do their best to move you.

Either you're part of the Panthers or you're not. Peppers did the worst thing he could do to the Panthers by announcing he won't return. Puts the Panthers in a very tough position with Gross not being signed either. Show some class, do it behind the scenes and the Panthers will do their best to move you.

I disagree entirely. He did keep a lid on it. He's been asked 1,000 times about his contract situation over the last 2 years. He would not respond to those requests. He waited till after the season was over, and has now made his intentions known. Its about as classy as one could hope for.

Someones bitter. Spoiled? Hardly. What didn't show up was a tough defensive scheme, no help along the Dline to help him...CONSISTENTLY, don't give a damn about the "well Johnson and Tyler were solid," not to mention outside of last season he's been one of the more consistent defenders on the Panthers. I swear some peppers' pundits are eating sour grapes. This reminds me of when T.O left philly. He's venerated when he's there, but as soon as he leaves "f**k em" lol

Unfortunately Peppers will probably be utilized somewhere else. If he has anything of a competent DC who knows what a real defensive scheme is best believe he's going to be even more of a beast. God forbid the team he goes to actually has someone other than him who can apply pressure and help him out:eek6:

Some people, lol.....kids.

I guess you and i are the only people not going nuts... Me being from New york people come and go every other year here... so its nothing personal to me.. People bring up he is from Carolina, went to UNC, played for the panthers.....ok

If the guy played through his contract, never beefed, some say he took play's off everyone does... Strahan took plays off, big deal, Osi has great games against bad lines and we dont complain we in ny never look that far i swear i thought people such as myself in NY were demanding of athletes.. Justin tuck has done anything meaningful since like week 8, but we have something you guys dont have that makes him look good other people on the line that have to be accounted for.. I have seen mostly all the Carolina Games this year via the internet, and from what i have seen no he doesnt get doubled every play but about 40 percent maybe yes. I have seen 2 tackles, tightends, RB chips blocks, yes it happens, and i have seen him one on one, hell they really dont run to his side...He chased down plays downfield god people!!! LOL and no DE is going to win every single battle.. he has made every defender earn there money.. believe that!! He plays damn near every down..

As for heart he puts on a helmet and goes and and puts his body at risk every single play, as does every starter in the NFL.. if he blew out a knee, or hurt his neck for mines and your entertainment is enough.. this isn't gladiator

It's 100% accurate to say that Peppers took a lot of plays off. To me he seemed to play just enough to get paid. He does remind me of those rare brilliant kids in school who'd sleep through class and never turn in homework, but then ace the final exam so they could graduate. Their genius was so special that they wanted to expose it for others to see only when necessary.

lol, good analogy. However, I still don't understand where all the resentment is coming from. For seasons---at least to us Panther fans---he has been the greatest thing since sliced bread on defense. Again, not taking last season into account, he's been the most consistent panther player we have on D.

While I do agree with you that he has taken plays off; I'd like to propose that almost 3/4 of players do it. Granted it might go unnoticed but I dare say that if we looked at film of solely one player during a game you'd see a few plays where he had a brief hiatus---very brief...rest.

The fact of the matter is that we probably will not have an athlete the caliber of JP along the Dline. It is of utmost importance in my opinion that we change the sheme in Carolina to mitigate the adverse impact that losing our best(2nd best/beason depending on who you ask) player on defense will cause. People can say what they want about Pepp, but we all know dag on well that a huge void will be left on the defense. If people are honest with themselves they know that letting Jenkins depart was a mistake. Now we're about to lose a key piece to our defense. Again though, I think we'll be alright if we get a competent DC with an effective scheme to compensate for such a huge loss.

I guess you and i are the only people not going nuts... Me being from New york people come and go every other year here... so its nothing personal to me.. People bring up he is from Carolina, went to UNC, played for the panthers.....ok

If the guy played through his contract, never beefed, some say he took play's off everyone does... Strahan took plays off, big deal, Osi has great games against bad lines and we dont complain we in ny never look that far i swear i thought people such as myself in NY were demanding of athletes.. Justin tuck has done anything meaningful since like week 8, but we have something you guys dont have that makes him look good other people on the line that have to be accounted for.. I have seen mostly all the Carolina Games this year via the internet, and from what i have seen no he doesnt get doubled every play but about 40 percent maybe yes. I have seen 2 tackles, tightends, RB chips blocks, yes it happens, and i have seen him one on one, hell they really dont run to his side...He chased down plays downfield god people!!! LOL and no DE is going to win every single battle.. he has made every defender earn there money.. believe that!! He plays damn near every down..

As for heart he puts on a helmet and goes and and puts his body at risk every single play, as does every starter in the NFL.. if he blew out a knee, or hurt his neck for mines and your entertainment is enough.. this isn't gladiator

man i wish him will Im not a hater

When you compare him

Well said and I strongly agree with you. Good point about your Dline in NY having help. I guarantee a team is chomping at the bit, salivating thinking of what their defense would be with Julius Peppers. If the roomers of him going to Jacksonville are correct, you know their DC has a woody thinking about the havoc they'll reak on opposing Offensive lines. Jacksonville can actually take some of the pressure off Peppers with help. I swear you'd think Fox or Turd would realize this.

I'd like somebody to put a youtube clip up of the plays that Peppers took off. Seriously. Then take any other great defensive player in the league and put some of the plays where they weren't a part of and let's see what the fug everybody is talking about.